How Long Can You DM ?

[questing gm]

If you have take your game with a certain level of seriousness rather than just having the group sitting together on the table for a simple game of beer and pretzels, we all know that DMing can be strenuous work.

The amount of things that the player's do and what happens next requires a large amount of concentration. It is recommended to have short breaks in between a session, not only for players to hit the bathroom but also the give the DM a breather.

So being experienced or new DMs, how long was the longest time you could ever DM for a group without rest?

My only experience was that my group had a marathon session, and we played for nearly 12 hours, non-stop. But by the time, we agreed to stopped my brain was totally burned out and became a practical zombie the moment I hit the sack. Not withstanding how crappy the session went, and the amounts of empty coke bottles that were on that session, it was the longest record for me.

So, what is your longest time ever ?

 

[Nifft]

Five years and counting.

I can do it indefinitely.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Menexenus]

I haven't ever DMed for more than 6 hours at a time myself. But back in the day, soon after I graduated college, my roommate took our group through the Temple of Elemental Evil in one week. We basically played 2nd edition D&D for every waking hour 5 days in a row. And I can definitely confirm the "zombie" effect that you describe. At the end of some of those long days, the DM would just stare off into space, and it would take him a while to react even after we called his name more than once.

DMing is definitely a psychologically draining experience, especially when done for sustained periods of time.

 

[el-remmen]

Back in the day I would DM for 8 to 12 hours at a time.

These days after about 5 or 6 I just can't concentrate anymore - it takes a lot out of me.

 

[Flynn]

Five years and counting.

I can do it indefinitely.

Cheers, -- N

Five years without a break, no sleeping, eating as you roll the dice, that kind of thing? Man, you are a DMing robot. I couldn't do that.

The longest session that I ever ran was 19.5 hours, with food delivered and flying by the seat of my pants for most of it. We started around noon on Saturday and wrapped up around 7:30 the next morning, gaming non-stop.

I'm not that young anymore, and so I doubt I could run more than 8-10 hours without having to take some kind of break, get some sleep, that kind of thing.

But five years... man, you're just a dice-rolling robot...

Happy DMing,
Flynn

 

[Nifft]

Five years without a break, no sleeping, eating as you roll the dice, that kind of thing? Man, you are a DMing robot. I couldn't do that.

You're doing it right now, reading up on DMimg tips while your players take a week-long bathroom break.

Cheers, -- N

 

[sirwmholder]

Let's see I have DM'ed sessions that lasted for 12 hours... and yes those took a lot out of me... I don't think I could do that again... now a days we take a break every 3-4 hours depending on what is going on in the story.

William Holder

 

[Shadeydm]

Thanks to Cialis I can DM all night long...

 

[Mark Hope]

Longest was a 24-hour marathon session when I ran Vecna Lives. The players refused to go home until they got to see it through to the end. I hadn't slept much the night before and didn't sleep at all the night afterwards (for reasons that transgress the Grandma rule, I can't go into details ). We did take a brief break after about 16 hours to grab some food from the K-Mart at the end of the road, but we were so into the game that the players insisted on going to the shop in marching order and remaining in-character throughout. Bizarre. Highly enjoyable but definitely bizarre. Regular games would generally be around 10 to 12 hours.

These days, however, family life limits it to brief bursts of 4 or 5 hours on a Tuesday night. Barely dents my endurance, heh heh...

 

[EricNoah]

I start going bonkers, rushing things, forgetting details at about 5 hours in. 4 hours is about my sweet spot. 3 hours is good too.